A previous thread addressing these pesky (and useless for me) buttons was closed. Why can't something be done to disable or reprogram these buttons? They seem easier to accidentally push than the normally used buttons and cause the user difficulty in trying to get back to the channel and program that was interrupted by the mishap. I thought about just putting duct tape over them but that might hold one or more in contact and drain the battery plus it would make the remote very ugly. On the plus side it may turn off guests who might otherwise be interested in a ROKU streaming device and give this problem some well deserved attention

Not pressing buttons must be my super power.

Why didn't I think of that?

I gotta admit, the only time I accidentally press the bottom buttons us when I fumble the remote, which happens MAYBE 3 times a year. Nothing that would cause me to want to duct tape over the buttons.

If they really bother you, you could pop the remote open and cut that section off the rubber pad, you could always put them back if you wanted. Of course, the remote wouldn't look very good with four empty holes (and you'd probably want to put scotch tape over them to stop dust getting in), but if you were considering duct tape I'm guessing appearance wasn't at the top of your concerns.

Eddie_T wrote:

Why can't something be done to disable or reprogram these buttons? 

Advertisers subsidize the cost of the Roku for that privilege.  They certainly aren't going to allow them to be reprogrammed to someone else's app.
I too rarely hit those buttons.  Maybe once a year.

Can we at least make the HBO NOW button a little more intelligent?  

If I have HBO Go channel installed because I'm already paying for HBO through a cable provider, then I am not going to also pay for HBO NOW.  If I ever uninstall HBO Go, I am fine with it reverting to encouraging me to install the HBO NOW app.  However, for the time period HBO Go is installed on my Roku, I don't understand why HBO would be bothered if I could use the HBO NOW button to access it.  As far as I can tell, the four button sponsors can only pay to have a button associated with a single channel and Roku is completely missing the concept of a paid secondary channel.  So, even if HBO wanted the behavior I desire, it seems like Roku won't even currently offer it.

fluke wrote:

Can we at least make the HBO NOW button a little more intelligent?  

If I have HBO Go channel installed because I'm already paying for HBO through a cable provider, then I am not going to also pay for HBO NOW.  If I ever uninstall HBO Go, I am fine with it reverting to encouraging me to install the HBO NOW app.  However, for the time period HBO Go is installed on my Roku, I don't understand why HBO would be bothered if I could use the HBO NOW button to access it.  As far as I can tell, the four button sponsors can only pay to have a button associated with a single channel and Roku is completely missing the concept of a paid secondary channel.  So, even if HBO wanted the behavior I desire, it seems like Roku won't even currently offer it.

When you contacted HBO, what did they say?

Here is how I disabled them.

I popped them out with needle nose pliers. Now I have four new monopoly game pieces and I don’t accidentally change channels with my remote.

dmillion wrote:

Here is how I disabled them.

I popped them out with needle nose pliers. Now I have four new monopoly game pieces and I don’t accidentally change channels with my remote.

Is it not almost unreal what you can accomplish with just a little ingenuity?  I went so far as to also remove (well actually level off) the useless for me voice search button. I had to use an exacto knife for that as that button would not just pop out like the others.
I even went so far as to use my electric glue gun to fill the holes and I used the exacto there as well lo level off the lumps. Now, except for the color of the  glue, my remote(s) are just as I want them and four little discolored patches are nothing that matters because I do not watch the remote.
Arts and crafts is fun and rewarding!!!

twiceover wrote:

Eddie_T wrote:

Why can't something be done to disable or reprogram these buttons? 

Advertisers subsidize the cost of the Roku for that privilege.  They certainly aren't going to allow them to be reprogrammed to someone else's app.
I too rarely hit those buttons.  Maybe once a year.

The funny part with this is when one of those companies goes out of business, Roku programmed it to something else.

Yea, I don't allow advertising to infiltrate my media and those steps are way more complicated than ripping a few buttons out of a remote and chucking them in a trash can... re-program that!

It's also interesting to note that my Roku Remotes NEVER started becoming possessed by Satan, locking up the remote AND the Roku so bad it has to crash and reboot itself UNTIL some genius at Roku started selling advertising on their flippin' remote! Now it's almost a daily occurrence!

These annoyed me also as well as the voice command button. 

There is a simple fix for this.  Take a small flat bladed screwdriver (something not sharp) and pry up on the buttons to remove all that offend.  In the hole, you will see the membrane switch, that is the actual button.  It sticks up a little, like a blister.  Turn over a rubber button and you will see a smaller, round little protrusion.  That is what is really pressing on this membrane switch.  Now you have a choice:

  If you want to reduce the chance of pressing it accidentally, get a cutting board and a sharp knife from the kitchen and cut off the protrusion, even with the rest of the rubber button.  Using a sharp kitchen knife was the ticket to a nice clean, straight cut.

 If you want it to not work again, take a pointy Exacto hobby knife like I did, and make plunging cuts all around the protrusion in about the same diameter as the actual membrane switch.  Very much like you do when cutting out the first slice of pie from a pan.  Go all the way around at an angle because you are going to extract a little plug in the shape of a classic engagement ring diamond, pointy on the bottom where your knife points are meeting.  You will then return and pretty easily cut it completely out.  When done reinstall the rubber button.  It will sit lower and stay in place but will look the same otherwise.  If you try and press it and nothing happens, you did it right.
 
For me, it is very satisfying to know they are dead.  If you ever wanted to, you could probably glue a small replacement nub back on there with silicone or just replace the rubber buttons.  Where you would get them or why you would ever want them again is beyond me.  Good riddance to virtually the only major idiocy with my Roku's.

Your welcome.

TBU wrote:

These annoyed me also as well as the voice command button. 

There is a simple fix for this.  Take a small flat bladed screwdriver (something not sharp) and pry up on the buttons to remove all that offend.  In the hole, you will see the membrane switch, that is the actual button.  It sticks up a little, like a blister.  Turn over a rubber button and you will see a smaller, round little protrusion.  That is what is really pressing on this membrane switch.  Now you have a choice:

  If you want to reduce the chance of pressing it accidentally, get a cutting board and a sharp knife from the kitchen and cut off the protrusion, even with the rest of the rubber button.  Using a sharp kitchen knife was the ticket to a nice clean, straight cut.

 If you want it to not work again, take a pointy Exacto hobby knife like I did, and make plunging cuts all around the protrusion in about the same diameter as the actual membrane switch.  Very much like you do when cutting out the first slice of pie from a pan.  Go all the way around at an angle because you are going to extract a little plug in the shape of a classic engagement ring diamond, pointy on the bottom where your knife points are meeting.  You will then return and pretty easily cut it completely out.  When done reinstall the rubber button.  It will sit lower and stay in place but will look the same otherwise.  If you try and press it and nothing happens, you did it right.
 
For me, it is very satisfying to know they are dead.  If you ever wanted to, you could probably glue a small replacement nub back on there with silicone or just replace the rubber buttons.  Where you would get them or why you would ever want them again is beyond me.  Good riddance to virtually the only major idiocy with my Roku's.

Your welcome.

I mean, if you're going to go through all that work, you could just pop it open, cut the traces, put it back together and at least it wouldn't look like a wonky POS.

Go ahead and try that with yours and let us know if it still works after you experiment with unknown (Chinese) circuitry (like walking a tightrope, drunk, over the Grand Canyon, with no net).

Personally we LOVE the way our remotes look post-op. The scars of life tell a story. Read it. Live it.

lol